Alberta nurse: 'We're not dial-a-dope'

Medical marijuana users laugh at the low-potency pot grown by the government.

EDMONTON — Janice Cyre is married to “an old hippie.”

But it wasn’t until six years ago, when she was in her mid-50s and had a fibromyalgia attack so severe no conventional medications could touch it, that she finally felt comfortable smoking a joint herself.

She almost coughed her lungs out.

But her husband wasn’t about to give up, convinced the anti-inflammatory compounds in marijuana could help Cyre with the constant aches and the sharp pains. Pharmaceutical anti-inflammatories pushed Cyre’s blood pressure to levels so high her doctor wondered why she didn’t have a stroke.

After some experimentation with vaporizing the marijuana, Cyre and her husband, Bob, who can also legally use marijuana for severe arthritis, settled on tea.

Bob knows the recipe: three to four grams of marijuana pressed down into tea made with scalding milk, hot chocolate and sometimes a hint of peppermint or vanilla. One cup with breakfast, another midday if needed, then one before bed with half a chocolate muffin, which offers one gram of weed, since the marijuana is ground into flour.

“It takes the pain and puts it way over on the horizon so that I can focus and function on what I’m doing,” said Cyre, a 61-year-old nurse who went on disability two years ago. The cannabis, which she and Bob can legally grow in an indoor garden of more than 200 plants outside Edmonton — enabled Cyre to cut back on Percocet, a strong painkiller she now pops only occasionally when the pain becomes too severe. Medical appointments have dwindled to once a month.

When Cyre’s doctor saw the improvement and followed up with blood tests and appointments to a pain clinic, she agreed to sign Cyre’s federal medical marijuana form.

“Being that I’m a nurse, and being that I worked in family practice, if your doctor has the bedside manner where they’re listening to the patient, they should actually give them the pros and cons,” Cyre said. Having been educated in western medicine herself, she agrees conventional treatments should always be tried before the unconventional.

Yet she and her husband have turned their marijuana expertise into a non-profit compassion club called MACROS, or Mobile Access Compassionate Resources Organization Society. It’s the only above-board club operating in Alberta with its own website providing the founder names, the address of the storefront and phone numbers.

But Cyre said she likes to stay under the radar as the club has grown from its original seven members to more than 300, approximately 65 per cent of whom are active.

“To keep the society afloat, we have to go to what we call the black market,” Cyre said, who only turns to mom-and-pop growers in Alberta — those who largely grow for themselves, then sell the excess — with no street connections to grow the weed for legitimate users who have either their Health Canada medical marijuana licence, or a prescription from their doctor.

Even if their doctors don’t approve of pot use, patients can turn to the compassion club if they have official proof of diagnosis of certain conditions, such as severe pain and muscle spasms from multiple sclerosis, a spinal cord injury, HIV, cancer or epilepsy. That tells Cyre they have alerted their doctor they are using pot.

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.